Mondo Robotics unveils Beni, a ground-level, autonomous camera robot featuring 4K recording, obstacle navigation, and a playful personality, raising over $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Mondo Robotics has launched Beni, a wheeled camera robot built to follow people and pets while recording from a low, ground-level angle. The Palo Alto start-up is pitching it as a hands-free alternative to drones, gimbals and wearable cameras, with a design that is intentionally playful as well as technical. According to the company, the robot can track movement on-device without an internet connection, which means the core filming and following functions do not depend on the cloud.
Beni’s hardware is unusually ambitious for a consumer product in this category. The robot records in 4K at 30 frames a second, 3K at 60 frames a second and 1080p at up to 100 frames a second for slow-motion footage, according to Mondo Robotics and product coverage in Designboom and Digital Camera World. It can travel at about 17.9 mph, avoid obstacles, right itself after a tip-over and climb barriers of up to 10 inches, or about 25 centimetres. The company also says HybridFlow stabilisation combines mechanical and digital correction to steady footage over rough ground.
The design is meant to make the machine feel less like equipment and more like a companion. Beni has colour-changing expressive eyes, head movements and a modular body with swappable hats, ear attachments and protection plates. The concept places it in a line of companion-style robots that includes Sony’s Aibo, with Mondo Robotics making a clear bet that personality helps a device leave the house and be used regularly. That approach is also practical: the robot is small enough to fit in a bag, weighing 3.86 pounds and measuring 8.5 by 7.1 by 7.1 inches.
Control is built around tracking modes rather than manual camera handling. Tail mode follows from behind, side mode runs parallel and circle mode moves around the subject to create wider motion shots. A magnetic Motion Tracker can be worn on the wrist or clipped to a bag, helping Beni stay locked on during fast movement, while a phone-based manual mode lets users drive the robot directly. Techeblog reported that the camera feed can also be viewed live on a phone, which makes Beni usable both as an autonomous tracker and as a remote camera platform.
Mondo Robotics is selling Beni through Kickstarter, with early pledges starting at $549 and a retail price set at $799. Digital Camera World said the campaign launched on July 8 and quickly passed its funding target, while GizmoCrowd reported that it had raised more than $1.2 million from nearly 2,000 backers. The company offers a standard bundle, an expanded package with extra batteries and off-road wheels and individual accessories. As with most crowdfunded hardware, however, delivery dates and final specifications can still change before mass production.
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